Are you overextended, over-distracted, and overwhelmed? Do you work at a breakneck pace all day, only to find that you haven’t accomplished the most important things on your agenda by the time you leave the office? The world has changed and the way we work has to change, too. Manage Your Day-to-Day will give you a toolkit for tackling the challenges of a 24/7, always-on workplace. We’ll show you how to build a rock-solid daily routine, field a constant barrage of messages, find focus amid chaos, and carve out the time you need to do the work that matters.

We’ve entered an exhilarating new era of self-invention. With access to new resources, technologies, and connectivity, you no longer have to rely on traditional channels to craft an incredible career. But surviving and thriving in this new landscape requires a highly proactive approach. Maximize Your Potential will show you how to generate new opportunities, cultivate your creative expertise, build valuable relationships, and take bold, new risks so that you can utilize your talents to the fullest.

Make Your Mark: The Creative's Guide to Building a Business with Impact, The 99U Book Series, Book 3

Are you ready to "make a dent in the universe"? As a creative, you no longer have to take a backseat. In fact, stepping up and embracing entrepreneurship is the fastest route to impact. But where do you start? And what sets the businesses that succeed apart? To find out, we asked the bright minds behind companies like Google X, Warby Parker, Facebook, O’Reilly Media, and more to share their startup wisdom.

Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality

How the world's leading innovators push their ideas to fruition, time and time again. Edison famously said that genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration. Ideas for new businesses, solutions to the world's problems, and artistic breakthroughs are common, but great execution is rare. According to Scott Belsky, the capacity to make ideas happen can be strengthened by anyone willing to build their organizational habits and harness the forces of community.

The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life

Present moment awareness is an essential ingredient in life if one expects to experience any degree of authentic peace and contentment. It has been acknowledged for centuries as the cornerstone of spiritual awakening in all traditions of Eastern thought. In the West, however, it is still a relatively unrecognized concept for living. The Western mind is always restless, never content with the moment.

23 Anti-Procrastination Habits: How to Stop Being Lazy and Get Results in Your Life

Do you struggle with completing projects or specific tasks? We'd all like to get things done and become more productive. But what often happens is we put off important tasks and let them slip through the cracks. The end result? We get overwhelmed by the amount of things to do. In other words, "procrastination" causes you to feel stressed when you're not completing tasks in a systematic manner.

To-Do List Makeover: A Simple Guide to Getting the Important Things Done

Are you creating to-do lists that never get to-done? It's easy to start each workday with a lengthy list of tasks. Then something unexpected comes up. Next thing you know, the day is almost over. You work hard at a frantic pace, but you end up feeling frustrated because there's not enough time to do everything. We all write lists with the hope that they will turn us into productivity machines. The wrong type of list can be de-motivating, causing you to slack off and procrastinate. Discover: How to create to-do lists that are both actionable and doable!

Wake Up Successful: How to Increase Your Energy and Achieve Any Goal with a Morning Routine

Having trouble achieving your goals? The reason most people aren't successful is they fail to follow a day-by-day strategy. Instead they start each day, "hoping" they will have enough time to take action on their goals. If you closely examine the world's most successful people you'd see they start each day in an energized state, ready to accomplish any goal. What's their secret? Put simply, successful people have morning routines that help them feel energized and ready to focus on their most important goal.

The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life

All it takes to make creativity a part of your life is the willingness to make it a habit. It is the product of preparation and effort, and is within reach of everyone. Whether you are a painter, musician, businessperson, or simply an individual yearning to put your creativity to use, The Creative Habit provides you with 32 practical exercises based on the lessons Twyla Tharp has learned in her remarkable 35-year career.

Level Up Your Day: How to Maximize the 6 Essential Areas of Your Daily Routine

Imagine what your life would be like if your days were filled with purpose, productivity, and time to enjoy the little things. (Instead of chaos, overwhelm, and exhaustion.) You can make this happen by building a daily routine that perfectly blends your personality with your career and personal obligations. Unfortunately, it isn't always easy to stick to a day-to-day ritual. You might be so busy that you can't add anything else to your crowded schedule. Or you might be following advice that doesn't match who you are.

Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results

One afternoon - after another failed attempt to get motivated to exercise - I (accidentally) started my first mini habit. I initially committed to do one push-up, and it turned into a full workout. I was shocked. This "stupid idea" wasn't supposed to work. I was shocked again when my success with this strategy continued for months (and to this day). I had to consider that maybe I wasn't the problem in those 10 years of mediocre results. Maybe it was my prior strategies that were ineffective, despite being oft-repeated as "the way to change" in countless books.

Leap First: Creating Work That Matters

Recorded in an intimate gathering of aspiring entrepreneurs, writers, and leaders, Leap First teaches us 49 essential principles, practices, and life lessons that have helped Seth the most in his own work and life. More than an audiobook or keynote speech, each track here presents a carefully chosen catalyst intended to trigger our own passion and insight with each listening.

Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day

Most of us live with the stubborn idea that we'll always have tomorrow to do our most important and valuable work. We fill our days with frantic activity, bouncing from task to task, scrambling to make deadlines and chase the next promotion. But by the end of each day we're often left asking ourselves "did the work I do today really matter?" We feel the ticking of the clock, but we're stuck in first gear, unsure of the path forward and without a road map to guide us.

Master Evernote: The Unofficial Guide to Organizing Your Life with Evernote, Plus 75 Ideas for Getting Started

Are you struggling with being organized? Do you have too much to do? Tired of forgetting important ideas or reminders? The truth is we're surrounded by so much "noise" (ideas, TV, social media, and advertising) that it's hard to slow down and keep track of the truly important things. One way to fix this problem? The Evernote app.

Ready, Set...PROCRASTINATE!: 23 Anti-Procrastination Tools Designed to Help You Stop Putting Things off and Start Getting Things Done

Do you find yourself often putting things off till "tomorrow"? That book you wanted to write? "Tomorrow". That email you're supposed to send? "Tomorrow". That project you said you'd start yesterday? "Tomorrow". DISCOVER how to Stop Procrastinating & Start Getting Things Done.

The Art of Mental Training: A Guide to Performance Excellence, Collector's Edition

Achieve the champion mindset for peak performance. Reach new levels of success and mental toughness with this ultimate guide. Learn the "Science of Success" and prepare to excel. In this concise and highly acclaimed training guide, Peak Performance Coach DC Gonzalez teaches a blend of unique mental training technologies, sports psychology essentials, and peak performance methods that are effective and motivational. Get ready to increase your self-belief, self-confidence, and mental toughness using this powerful guide designed to help you reach new levels of success, sports performance and personal development.

Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes or Less

Discover: How to add dozens of positive changes to your daily routine. Want to improve your life, but don't have enough time? Right now you could easily think of a dozen ways to instantly improve your life. Odds are, these ideas will only take a few minutes apiece to complete. The problem? You might feel like there's not enough time to do all of them. One solution can be found using the power of "habit stacking."

The Productive Person: A How-to Guide Book Filled with Productivity Hacks & Daily Schedules for Entrepreneurs, Students or Anyone Struggling with Work-Life Balance

Anyone privileged with the choice of how they spend their time is cursed with a common struggle...work-life balance. Whether you’re a student, entrepreneur, or even stay at home parent, dividing your free time between productivity and personal time can be difficult. How do you maximize each hour of productivity so that you are only focused on the task at hand, leaving you free to do other more enjoyable things?

Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

Art & Fear explores the way art gets made, the reasons it often doesn't get made, and the nature of the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way. This is a book about what it feels like to sit in your studio or classroom, at your wheel or keyboard, easel or camera, trying to do the work you need to do. It is about committing your future to your own hands, placing free will above predestination, choice above chance. It is about finding your own work.

Publisher's Summary

Are you overextended, over-distracted, and overwhelmed? Do you work at a breakneck pace all day, only to find that you haven’t accomplished the most important things on your agenda by the time you leave the office?

The world has changed and the way we work has to change, too. Manage Your Day-to-Day will give you a toolkit for tackling the challenges of a 24/7, always-on workplace. We’ll show you how to build a rock-solid daily routine, field a constant barrage of messages, find focus amid chaos, and carve out the time you need to do the work that matters.

This is a simple book that provides steps for the primary three areas: build your routine, find your focus, and increase your creativity. The steps are obvious, such as book time to work on your priorities rather than let other people suck your time for their priorities through emails or meeting invites. The book is structured nicely. Provides the main points, gives some examples, and summarizes at the end of the chapter with key takeaways. I listened to the audio book. I would listen to it again if I needed the reminder to return to a routine and focus on my priorities.

What made the experience of listening to Manage Your Day-to-Day the most enjoyable?

The contributors showed a real understanding of the artistic and creative mind.

What about Fred Stella and Laural Merlington ’s performance did you like?

Fred and Laural did not get in the way of the message. Their delivery was neither turgid nor preachy. I felt that another artist/colleague was speaking to me.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The chapter on perfectionism was bang on for me. Also, in a few places, the contributors drive home that, as a professional artist, you can't expect inspiration to move you to create. Most of the time you just have to get down to doing it.

Any additional comments?

Before reading Manage Your Day-to-Day, I would start my day doing mundane tasks like answering email or just looking for something interesting on the internet. Now, after I exercise, I start writing or composing first thing. It makes me want to get out of bed. I rise now about 2 hours earlier than I had in the past. My productivity has gone way up.

A great companion to this book is Accidental Genius by Mark Levy. He has given me great ideas on how to kick start my creativity through writing; a real boon now that I have all this extra time to create!

Manage Your Day-to-Day is a perfect blend of information and insights that I have been able to use immediately in my day to day work. The variety of content is exceptional due to the fact that this is more of a compilation of ideas, which is very beneficial because productivity is more of a "finding what works for you" - so you're sure to find content that meets your style of work.

Due to the short length, I love the fact that I can re-listen and remind myself of the nuggets that are found throughout.

NOTE: I would recommend having a way to jot down a few notes while listening, especially when they give you some "hidden" web addresses with additional resources from 99U.

Would you consider the audio edition of Manage Your Day-to-Day to be better than the print version?

I don't know, I haven't read the print version.

What did you like best about this story?

The practical tricks and tips how to manage my time.

Have you listened to any of Fred Stella and Laural Merlington ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I haven't

What did you learn from Manage Your Day-to-Day that you would use in your daily life?

• Creative work first, reactive work second.

• Don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has to get down to work.

• We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.

• The human mind is better suited for running sprints than marathons.

• We tend to overestimate what we can do in a short period and we underestimate what we can do over a long period. A small daily task, if it'll be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules. Over the long run, the unglamorous habit of frequency fosters both - productivity and creativity.

This is one of the few audible books that I would have to say would have worked better with a text companion. When you are listening all you can do is let these great examples wash over you. It's extremely hard to retain all this advice.

Has Manage Your Day-to-Day turned you off from other books in this genre?

It has no real genre. All the 99U stuff is genre busting. How to be more productive and organized for artists and poets.

What does Fred Stella and Laural Merlington bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

In general I found this book to be encouraging, helpful and informative.

My one criticism of this audio version is in the narration which consisted of two voices, male and female. I found the female vocal performance to be somewhat robotic with little or no expression. The gaps between words and sentences sound somewhat unnatural at times - almost like what one would hear on your car Sat-Nav in or the synthesised voice on your computer. I found this quite off putting and distracting.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Richard Laxa

5/21/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Really good listen"

I love the audiobook. The voices need to sound a little more natural though. It was clear and very informative. I loved the 99u books. Its just great.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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